Neh 8:4-5 | KingComments | STEP | Ezra stands at a podium . That elevation was made especially for this purpose. It does not say that it was done on the advice of Ezra. There must have been a feeling that everyone should have the opportunity to get in touch with the law. It is not the intention to elevate Ezra, but the Word. Through the elevation the whole assembly can see the book. Probably Ezra is in possession of the only copy. Seeing a Bible, getting hold of a copy to feel it, has already caused tears to many people. Often testimonies have been given, for example by believers in countries where the Bible is a forbidden book or by groups who get a Bible in their own language for the first time. Such a tribute can be seen in people who have either never had a Bible or have been deprived of it for a long time. There are people who collect old Bibles because of their material or antique value. That’s not what Ezra and the people are about and that’s not what believers are about in countries where the Bible is forbidden reading. Those who are gripped by the message of the Bible will cherish a copy of it as the most precious possession. The elevation is a kind of platform that also accommodates thirteen Levites, six of whom are on the right hand and seven on the left hand of Ezra. It is reminiscent of Peter with the eleven apostles on Pentecost ( ).

‏ Nehemiah 8:4-5

On a Podium

Ezra stands at a podium . That elevation was made especially for this purpose. It does not say that it was done on the advice of Ezra. There must have been a feeling that everyone should have the opportunity to get in touch with the law. It is not the intention to elevate Ezra, but the Word. Through the elevation the whole assembly can see the book. Probably Ezra is in possession of the only copy.

Seeing a Bible, getting hold of a copy to feel it, has already caused tears to many people. Often testimonies have been given, for example by believers in countries where the Bible is a forbidden book or by groups who get a Bible in their own language for the first time. Such a tribute can be seen in people who have either never had a Bible or have been deprived of it for a long time.

There are people who collect old Bibles because of their material or antique value. That’s not what Ezra and the people are about and that’s not what believers are about in countries where the Bible is forbidden reading. Those who are gripped by the message of the Bible will cherish a copy of it as the most precious possession.

The elevation is a kind of platform that also accommodates thirteen Levites, six of whom are on the right hand and seven on the left hand of Ezra. It is reminiscent of Peter with the eleven apostles on Pentecost (Acts 2:14).

The Book Is Opened

Because of his elevated position Ezra can be seen and heard by all. All see how he opens the book. When he opens the book, a wave of reverence goes through the people. They all stand up out of reverence. The Lord Jesus also stood up to read and the eyes of all in the synagogue are also fixed on Him (Lk 4:16 ; 20b).

Do we, do I, get impressed every time we read the Bible or hear it read out? Can I say: “I rejoice at Your word, as one who finds great spoil” (Psa 119:162)? Is God’s Word so special to me? Or has it become so mundane that we no longer feel the uniqueness of God’s speaking through His Word?

It is not about reverence for a material book, but about every letter in it. Every letter comes from God, “all Scripture is inspired by God” (2Tim 3:16). We do not have God’s Word in the Bible, as if there were words in the Bible that were not given by Him. The Bible doesn’t include God’s Words, it IS God’s Word. The whole Word of God “is the truth” (Jn 17:17). Words spoken by the devil and written down in the Bible are also in it because God wants them to be in the Bible.